Black Roses, for My Love
by A Raven of Emotions
Summary: An 18th Century or so AU BTR oneshot for a friend's special day, contains Kames slash. Warning: Blood, gore, forbidden love, and pure chaotic insanity. Small summary: This opera never ends, because this Phantom is to never die...


Hello. Well today's a special day, a dear friend's birthday and since BTR and slash is two of our shared interests, I wrote this up just for him. It's horror-based (since he allowed me to go as crazy with this as I wanted; he's not my precious person but he is a very dear friend helping me in recovery, so I wanted this to be very unique) and has the following: slash (we're guilty for this, heheh), forbidden romance (as in a seventeen with a twenty-one year old, the other pairing the same but even more extreme), crime (as in murders, though arranged to appear as suicides or cruel examples of homicide), and many other horror-like themes. I got this idea while watching 'The Phantom of the Opera' (another guilty pleasure of ours; he's just that awesome, hehe) and getting a nine-hour sleep (finally for the first time in a while; insomnia issues still strong, but we're getting there) the night before and despite that I'm having a smooth recovery so far, I'm still a horror lover, that aspect of me hasn't changed so I have to say I'm very proud of this piece; I love simple love stories and touching family moments, but horror just makes me smile more...I'm weird, I know...well, onward to this oneshot. I hope that this turns out as good as I hoped it did, in my head...Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING BUT THE PLOT OF THE ONESHOT AND ANY OCS USED AND/ OR MENTIONED... Sorry if this sucked, was lame, too short, or all of the above...! Sorry if there were any grammar mistakes made during the writing, creation, and polishing of this oneshot...! Bold wording is the narration...! Important Note: This is totally AU and takes place in 18th century England or so...I almost forgot! The narration is in one of the BTR boys' POV, Kendall's in this one! Just so that everyone knows, in this AU fic Kendall can speak three languages: French, Spanish, and English...

* * *

**Why, why did you cross my path?**

**Why, why, why damn it!**

"House de Terror."

Gustavo read the name of his establishment as if it was the fountain of endless gold, smiling as he led the newest addition of the family through the large, lavender purple tent.

"Here is your new home, learn its pros and cons and deal with them, dog. You'll be here until you turn eighteen, then whatever you do with yourself is your hassle." The rather plump man grumbled under his breath, adjusting his dark shades on the bridge of his short, flat nose.

James looked at the man's back with a blank expression, still unable to believe all of this was happening. First the fire and loss of everything he once knew, next being sent to Europe all alone with nothing but a few clothes and personal belongings to keep safe, and now this. This wasn't just an opera house for those talented with unique yet haunting gifts; it was his prison cell, the only place that was to be refered to as his home until he turned eighteen.

"So, anything to say in return, dog?"

"Yes sir, where are the other members of the troupe? I would very much like to meet them."

**You, so beautiful with the voice of a dying angel...**

**Why are you here, in this dark and bloody world?**

**Why are you here, at the site of my famous death?**

"Wow James, your voice is amazing! Not to mention your dancing as well, you'll have crowds coming from all over the globe just to see you!" Camille cheered from the mob of folding chairs before the large and grand stage, said brunette blushing and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Thanks Cam, but I don't think I'm that very good. My soprano voice isn't stable enough yet..." He replied as she climbed up the side steps and hugged him tightly about the waist, he chuckling at her energy before kissing her hair.

"Nonsense, Jay! You sound amazing, Jo better watch out! You might just beat her out of a gig, serves her right! I hate her whiny, bossy attitude, Sir Gustavo just puts up with her because her parents are well-known in the acting hotspots in England and France! Even Lady Kelly dislikes her, and she rarely hates anybody!"

James just chuckled again and shrugged, his smile vanishing at seeing the infamous blonde girl approach them. She looked pretty in her dark pink corset-styled top and long black skirt, hair tied up to fall down to loose non-natural curls around her super model face, nails painted dark pink with black flats at her feet; the bitter and smug scowl on her thin lips, however, made the whole attempt at flawless beauty fail at an epic level.

"Please Camille, James will never be the star of the opera house. He's just a lowly street urchin, nothing more or less. Besides, he doesn't have a name to back him up. He's just a soprano that sounds good enough for Sir Gustavo's background vocals, well if what comes out of his throat can be considered good." Jo snapped at them, smirking coldly at the mercury-eyed boy.

Jo Taylor never liked him, ever since his arrival to the House of Terror two months ago; she always put him down and called him names, everyone else was okay with him but why not her?

"Jo, can't you just lay off me for a day? You don't like me, I get that, but find someone else to bully if you're so bored. Your material's getting old for me." James said calmly, Camille letting out a giggle at his comeback.

Jo just glared daggers at them both and scoffed in disgust, spinning about on her heels and stalking off backstage, the two sharing smiles at her retreating back.

"Nice work, Jay."

"No thanks needed, Cam. She gets on my nerves, plus she picks on you and makes fun of Lucy. I could care less if I'm her bag toy but no one messes with you two, you're like sisters to me."

**Oh, how kind and valiant you are...**

**Beauty inside and out, how rare is that in this world...**

**When I saw you the first time, I swear I saw God's most precious creation walk the earth...**

**Gracing it with your inhumanly amazing voice, inhumanly perfect body and radiance...**

James adjusted the collar of his silk black long-selvee shirt, making sure no dust clung to his matching dress pants as he fiddled with the blood red tie around his slender neck. His hair was brushed back and trimmed, the soft chocolate locks combed to frame his high cheekbones, mercury eyes a dark hazelnut in his and the girls' room low lighting. His soft pale lips were in a weak smile, angelic face arranged in a passive mask.

Even after being here for a while, the nerves still got to him before a show.

"True to your last name, you're as dashing as a diamond." Lucy teased playfully as she did his tie for him, seeing he was at a complete loss to do it right; James blushed brightly with a warm smile in return, thinking she looked like a goddess in her long dark red dress that flattered her curves and brought out the flame highlights in her straight, black hair.

"Thanks Luc, you look pretty beautiful yourself. Maybe you'll find a good guy after tonight's show, but make sure I approve before the first date. That goes for you and Cam, too." He said, getting a laugh and eye roll from her.

"Sure, whatever Jay. Shows starts in ten minutes or so, better get on stage beforehand so that Sir Gustavo doesn't bring the tent down on us with his beastly roars." James chuckled when Lucy made a face and violent temper riot gesture, she smirking at his laughter before giving a bow and exiting the dressing room.

"Okay, it's just another show. I've been doing this for two months now, I can do it." The brunette spoke to himself in a half-hearted pep-talk, breathing in deeply and checking his perfect reflection in the full-body mirror for a last time before grabbing his jacket off the nearest chair and leaving the room, bolting the lock before disappearing into the darkness of backstage.

It's show time.

**Our bodies were pulled together by means of the supernatural...**

**I yearned for you, I wanted you; I lusted for your attention, your admiration, your heart...**

**Such a sadness to meet in a dire situation, my love...**

"Everyone, leave in an orderly manner! Calm down and head for the nearest exit, everything will be pulled under control!" Lady Kelly shouted over the chaos of the opera house's terrified guests; women screamed and small children cried as the flames from the torches up ahead rose to great heights, the red-orange throngs spreading across the rich red carpet on the soft earth and the grand stage.

"James!" Camille watched in horror as her best friend toppled from the stage via trapdoor and out of sight, Lucy pulling at her arm while avoiding getting trampled by the others crowding around them.

"Cam, come on! I think I know where that trapdoor leads, let's gather up the other troupe members and go for Jay!"

"B-But, he's hurt! What if he doesn't make it?" She exclaimed back, tears flooding her gentle coffee eyes. Lucy sighed and gave her a small smile, tugging her along still but making sure the other girl didn't trip over the long skirts of her blue silk dress.

"He'll be fine, me and you and Carlos are going to find him! We're going to find him and he's going to be okay, you'll see!"

"Look, it's Stephanie!"

The rest of the troupe members, apart from Lucy and Camille that was made up of Jo, Guitar Dude, Annie, Mercedes, Dak and Carlos, glanced up as the Hispanic boy pointed up to the high tent ceiling, his puppy brown eyes foggy with a mixture of horror and sick surprise; he felt as if his stomach was about to throw up.

There hung their friend/fellow troupe member Stephanie King, upside down with ropes digging hard into her ankles. She was...in grave shape: blood dripped out of her mouth while her eyes were stabbed out, leaving double black holes within her once youthful face. Her neck had a series of scratches and cuts, some bleeding others sealed with stitches, while her body seemed marred and broken. She hung limply from the air like a puppet out of its strings, dress ripped to shreds so that what was left was only a tank top littered with holes and a pair of raggy shorts.

S-She was...

"Oh mon dieu..." Lucy choked out in French, Camille's face paling as Jo let out a blood-curdling scream.

"Dudes, we need to get out of here!" Guitar Dude yelled to them all, Carlos shaking his head as he grabbed Lucy's and Camille's free hands and began tailing them toward the stage.

"Come on, we need to find James and rescue him!"

"It's the Phantom, the Phantom of Terror! He's come back to haunt us!" Jo said over and over in a frantic tone, looking close to pulling her hair out by the roots.

"Car, what's the blonde bimbo talking about? Who's this Phantom?" Lucy asked, Camille asking the same question silently through her thoughtful expression. Carlos sighed as he made his sprint into a full-fledged run, trying to block out the sounds of crackling fire and screeches as he rounded through backstage and found the trapdoor's secret staircase.

"The Phantom, he's this mobile opera house greatest legend. the Phantom of Terror, he was once a guy who worked here several years ago, eighty years or so ago. He was about twenty-one going on to twenty-two, a simple stage hand but with good looks and a great voice. H-He was murdered here, but the troupe before us blamed him for three deaths of their fellow members all done in one night so they thought his murder to be a suicide. My grandpapa, he was part of this opera house before me, he's one of the few that believed this guy was really murdered, that he was innocent of all charges against him but since no one found evidence for him to prove his innocence..."

"So, your grandpa knew him?" Camille asked, gripping tighter onto Lucy's arm when the flames led to an explosion; they had to hurry, or they and James would perish in this Hell!

"Y-Yeah, he knew him. They were best friends, but the legend is that...the Phantom's spirit still haunts this opera house, this place is still the home to his spirit. He's trapped as a twenty-one year old musician, a stage hand with hidden talents that died because someone slit his throat in the dark one night when he was setting up lights and preparing the costumes. I've never seen him, but I'd be lying to you two if I said this is the first disaster to take place in the last five years since I've been here." Carlos explained, Camille and Lucy's faces going corpse pale.

"B-But what does he want? And with James, what does he want? That trapdoor hasn't been used in years, Sir Gustavo says it's off limits to us! The Phantom would be the only person to know about that trapdoor and how to work it! What does he want with our Jay!" Lucy demanded, anger and determination chasing away the fear within her; adrenaline coursed through her veins now, no fright or desire to flight.

"I-I don't know but...Grandpapa told me that, the Phantom had a lover once, his betrothed but that they never got married because after his death, this beauty commited suicide. And...James, he looks like the Phantom's betrothed, he looks exactly like him..."

**You have returned to me, my love...**

**Our memories of the past do not matter much now, our lives now are different...**

**But your beauty has never faded, even in this reincarnation the sun is mighty jealous of you...**

**The stars in the night sky and moon crave the perfection you behold still...**

James was layed gently on the hard wooden floor, a black cloak around him in a makeshift blanket as another man crouched low to the youth's side. He was older, twenty-one years of age, yet shorter and had a more lithe and lanky frame when compared to the god-like body before him; dressed in black from head-to-toe and with a silver mask covering all but a sparkling left bottle green eye, the man's hidden lips whistled and vocalized a tune. A sad tune, a mourning tune, a tune from his years of wandering alone in this wretched world.

His visible eye fogged over in sadness in seeing the blood trail down James' left temple from the wound he recieved on account of a falling blackjack.

"My sweet black rose, my angel wake up. Listen to my voice, listen to me sing and open those priceless eyes of yours..." The masked man whispered, his words lost once more as he sang the tune at a more louder range; James' heart beated softly under his pale, spidery hand as the younger stirred from his pain-induced sleep, mercury brown eyes fluttering open to see...that mask, that lone green eye.

The P-Phantom of Terror...

**It hurt to see the fear, the confusion, the lost vigor in your eyes...**

**You were scared of me, feared me because of the lies and tall tales of those around you...**

**Most believed I was a monster, someone who kills for revenge and who kills for the thrill...**

**Le visage d'un amour interdit...**

**Pero, en lugar del miedo vino el amor...**

**El amor, entre nosotros...**

James watched as the mask fell, exposing a large raven-shaped tattoo over the man's right eye and right-hand portion of his handsome face; the green of his eyes made the tattoo stand out more against his peach pale skin, the blonde's shoulders shaking in years-old broken sobs.

"They branded me with this, the raven is often seen as a bird of bad luck and a death omen. They branded this into my skin after I died, after my body was found. It was to remind me that I was cursed, that I was and still am a haunted man." He hissed between his hands, them pressed to his soft mouth to avoid letting the screams rattling within his torso out.

He was still broken, after all this time he was still broken.

James bit his lower lip as his heart felt as if it was being ripped out of his chest; the Phantom's pain, no...Kendall's pain was his pain, they were connected.

The brunette pulled the cloak tighter around his body to avoid the night's snowy chill before he sat down next to the other, leaning over to press a tender kiss to the raven tattoo; Kendall's eyes went wide at the action, his breath shortening in pleasant surprise when James snuggled into him.

"You're not cursed, you're not a haunted man. I want you, I love you. And you're not a murderer, Kendall. You're my Kendall, you're not a murderer and I swear to find who's doing the killings in the opera house. I will clear your name, I swear it. I'm sure Luc, Car, and Cam will help too. They're my friends and if I explain to them what really happened that night eighty years ago, I'm sure they'll help me clear your name. I will make history make amends to you, Kendall, I promise..."

Another kiss granted, this time to the lips instead of to the cheek.

**"Je m'en fous de ce qui advinne", the same words you said to me many moons ago...**

**Cruel destiney, heartless fate took me away from you, left you broken and unable to do anything else but decide to take your own life in order to join me once again...**

**And yet you stay at my side, even if our love is prohibited...**

**A forbidden passion that takes us, that makes us into lowly criminals of a twisted play...**

**I love you so much, my James..**

**I love you so much, I have loved you all this time even when you knew nor remembered nothing of me from the past...**

**And yet destiney and fate have the threat to separate us again!**

**Many things stand in our way...**

**El peligro de un amor puro, un amor de verdad...**

**El peligro de un amor de la muerte en carne viva...**

"You, James! I think you're the one behind these murders! Think about it, guys! The Phantom has killed off Annie, Guitar Dude, Stephanie, and Mercedes! We're the only ones left, Dak or I can be next! But the Phantom has had a chance to kill you off, James, but you just happen to escape any corner he traps you in! You're the Phantom, you're jealous of all your troupe members, your family, so you want to do away with all of us! Admit it now, James Diamond!" Jo growled, light eyes dark and menacing.

"What the heck are you saying, bimbo? Jay's no killer and he's certainly not the Phantom! Besides, none of us, James included, have seen the Phantom so we don't even know if he exists or not! Cut the crap against my bro and use those brains of yours for once, Jo! That is, if your expensive perfume hasn't killed all the brain cells you had!" Lucy growled back, Camille in between them to avoid a cat fight.

"Stop, we have to stick together! The investigator Sir Gustavo hired is already working on this case, so far no suspects within the opera house have been concluded! Please stop, this the last moment I would think of for us to starting suspecting and doubting each other! Whoever is doing this will be brought to justice and will pay for what they did to Guitar Dude, Mercedes, Stephanie and Annie but we need to stop fighting and just trust that everything will turn out well!" She pleaded, Dak wrapping an arm around James' shoulders in comfort.

"Don't listen to Jo, James. You have no blame for this, if it's the Phantom or whoever that has a grudge against the House de Terror, Detective Mitchell will crack this case in no time. There hasn't been a case he couldn't solve yet, I'm sure he'll have the culprit up and front soon."

James sighed and nodded at the older boy's words, a tight knot in his stomach though.

Kendall couldn't be the one killing off the brunette's troupe members...right? No, no, no! He shouldn't be doubting his lover's words, he said so himself that he wasn't behind the commited crimes! They loved each other, they were to trust each other just like those many years ago!

But then...who's killing off his friends? Who's really haunting the House de Terror Opera House?

**But I won't let them accuse you of such a crime, my love!**

**Even if I have to slay the killer myself with a blade, if your innocence and freedom are spared...**

**Then, I will become what these insolent mortals call me...**

**I will take this knife in hand, with all the roses I have saved for you to enjoy, and slit the throat of the person who's a threat to us, a threat to those around you, my sweet...**

**Like they did to me, I will slit the throat of this monster...**

**And in return, sadly, become what you feared before learning of me...**

**I will become, the Phantom of Terror...**


End file.
